The seven wonders of the RNA world

Manny Ares (University of California, Santa Cruz) will describe a riboswitchlike pre-mRNA structure that folds differently under the influence of polyamines to regulate alternative splicing.

Most dynamic RNAs are aided by proteins that remodel RNA structure. This topic will be presented by Eckhard Jankowsky (Case Western Reserve University), who will describe in molecular terms how the RNA helicase family of enzymes works and how this explains their physiological roles.

Finally, the complex shape and function of a folded catalytic RNA will be dissected by Anna M. Pyle (Yale University), who will discuss group II intron architecture and its implications for the development of eukaryotic splicing systems.

Fighting fire with fire: RNA control of gene function

Accurate molecular recognition is fundamental to correct regulation, and evolution has partly solved this problem by targeting RNA with RNA.

In the third session, “RNA-based Regulation: A Diversity of Mechanisms,” we will hear about how RNAs that mediate regulation are made and how they function. Among the speakers will be Richard Gregory (Harvard University), who has focused on the biogenesis of microRNAs that control stem-cell function and are affected in cancer cells.

In a still-breaking story, bacteria appear to have immunity systems that utilize RNA recognition. Rebecca M. Terns (University of Georgia) will explain how small RNAs from CRISPR loci guide silencing of invaders in prokaryotes.

Lynne Maquat (University of Rochester) will describe how RNA decay plays a central role in the ability of RNAs to keep their regulatory targets in check.